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Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino Partners With Travel Outlook to Elevate Guest Service Experience
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GBTA Research Reveals Business Travelers Say Loyalty Matters in Hotel Booking
the Global Business Travel Association | October 29, 2018
Travelers Willing to Share Information for Personalized Experience Alexandria, VA (October 29, 2018) – On average, business travelers consider three hotels before booking and 82 percent say loyalty programs matter when making that decision, according to new research out today from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in partnership with Omni Hotels & Resorts. Additionally, the study reveals nine in 10 business travelers view rewards points and perks as a motivating factor in selecting a hotel and 81 percent believe being a loyalty member results in better service. Business travelers are split when it comes to using lo...
Properly Announces $8.5M Series A Financing to Expand the Leading Cleaning and Quality Management Platform for Airbnb Hosts and Vacation Rental Manage
Properly, Inc. | October 29, 2018
SAN FRANCISCO, October 29, 2018 – Properly, Inc., a San Francisco-based company that provides a cleaning and quality management platform to Airbnb hosts and vacation rental managers, today announced a $8.5 million Series A led by Asset Management Ventures, with participation by AccorHotels and prominent travel investors. Guest concerns around quality and consistency are a central challenge for the short-term and vacation rental industry. According to industry expert and former PhoCusWright CEO Simon Lehmann, "unpredictable quality" is the single largest concern of travelers with the industry. Properly's management tools allow hosp...
Expedia Group’s New Guest Insights Tool Helps Hotels Understand and Attract Travelers
Expedia Group | October 29, 2018
Seattle, Wash., October 29th, 2018 – Expedia Group, the world's travel platform, today announces the global availability of Guest Insights, a new solutions-driven insights tool for hotels. As part of the Expedia Group's Partner Central suite of offerings, Guest Insights leverages current property, competitive and market intelligence to inform properties of their guest's travel motivations and booking behavior, allowing partners to identify opportunities to reach and convert travelers in a highly strategic way. "Partners acknowledge the importance of understanding their guests, but until now have lacked the appropriate tools to acc...
Zdrojowa Hotels Signs With Hilton for New Build Hilton Swinoujscie Resort & Spa in the Baltic City of Swinoujscie
Zdrojowa Invest & Hotels | October 29, 2018
ŚWINOUJŚCIE, Poland and MCLEAN, Va. - Hilton (NYSE:HLT) today announced plans to open a new hotel in the Baltic resort city of Świnoujście, following a franchise agreement with Zdrojowa Hotels. Hilton Świnoujście Resort & Spa, a Hilton Hotels & Resorts property, is due to open by 2020. Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president, development, EMEA, Hilton, said: 'Demand for hotels in Poland is on the rise. Baltic resort cities, such as Świnoujście, Kołobrzeg and Gdańsk, are increasingly popular domestically and abroad. Once open, Hilton Świnoujście Resort & Spa will be a leading resort hotel on the Baltic coast and...
5 Ways to Market to Your Guests With Instagram Stories
Nancy Huang | October 29, 2018
Instagram Stories is quickly becoming the go-to platform for savvy marketers. This Snapchat-like feature has seen tremendous growth since launching in 2016, with more than 400 million daily active users. Instagram Stories has a more raw and playful feel than traditional Instagram posts, allowing marketers to engage followers in a more natural way. While the stories used to disappear after 24 hours, Instagram now allows you to archive stories on your profile as highlights. That said, because stories only exist for 24 hours as a default, they're generally better at helping to build urgency around offers, thus triggering immediate response...
Travel may be the key to ending your unhealthy love affair with your electronic devices
October 29, 2018
Oct. 29--Some drowned. Some fell. Others were killed in car accidents. The culprit: usually a smartphone in pursuit of a selfie. Drownings and falls are among the leading causes of selfie-related deaths; many car accidents can be traced to distracted driving, thanks to the need to respond to texts and email. The smartphone has become a fatal attraction. It also may be guilty of lesser crimes that affect even more travelers: the ability to subvert or even destroy your time away. It's bad enough that we don't take all the vacation time we're allotted. More than half of all Americans leave vacation on the table, about 705 milli...
After Michael, few Panhandle hotels open for hurricane survivors
October 29, 2018
Oct. 29--PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A child rides his bike about 40 feet, turns and gives a few more pushes before it's time to turn around again. He does this over and over, zipping past an open doorway where a man sleeps inside one of a motel's run-down units. The bed's box spring is directly on the floor. A mattress is turned upright. Many rooms here brim with bulging garbage bags and Rubbermaid storage bins, holding the remnants of what was left after Hurricane Michael ravaged homes and upended lives Oct. 10. By a door in one room is a part of a car engine. For many in this post-hurricane world, what's not broken, discolor...
HospitalityMaine trade group launches apprenticeship program to develop skilled hospitality workforce
October 29, 2018
Oct. 29--Matt Chappell opened his restaurant, Gather, in a former Masonic hall on Main Street in Yarmouth about six years ago. He wanted to give the community an inviting place for a family brunch or an intimate evening out and serve dishes made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The restaurant is successful, except for one thing -- Chappell never has enough cooks in the kitchen. It's a common woe among Maine restaurant owners, as the state's blossoming food and beverage scene faces persistent labor shortages. "We keep having the same conversation; it grows tiring after a while just to be struggling to find help in th...
Al-Habtoor Group Appoints Rahim Abu Omar as New Hospitality Division COO
October 29, 2018
Oct. 29--The Al-Habtoor Group has appointed Rahim Abu Omar as the new chief operating officer -- hospitality division. With four decades of hospitality experience, Abu Omar rejoins the Al-Habtoor Group executive team in Dubai to steer a portfolio of 14 luxury hotels, seven in the UAE and seven abroad -- in the UK, the US, Lebanon, Austria and Hungary. A seasoned hospitality management professional, Abu Omar has played an active role in successfully launching several of the group's landmark properties, most notably the Metropolitan Beach Resort & Club, Metropolitan Palace Hotel Dubai, Metropolitan Palace Hotel Beirut, Habtoor Gra...
1920’s YMCA Building in Downtown San Diego to Become $80 Million Luxury Boutique Hotel
October 27, 2018
Oct. 27--Decades ago, downtown's nearly century-old YMCA building was a wartime destination for the millions of service men and women passing through the city, but by early next year, it will be reborn as a 162-room luxury boutique hotel. For the last three years, San Diego-based Oram Hotels has been overseeing the painstaking process of preserving the building's ornate, Italian Renaissance-inspired exterior while also updating and reconfiguring the deteriorating, dormitory-style interior. By the time The Guild hotel opens in March, the developer expects to have spent $80 million on the project, said Oram co-founder Alvin Mansou...
Opened in 1967, the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg Township, Ohio to Close in 2019
October 27, 2018
Oct. 27--Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg Township announced Friday it will close in the spring. The New Orleans-themed hotel has been open for more than 50 years and will close because of changes in the marketplace and with the Holiday Inn brand, according to a news release. The hotel with French Quarter-inspired decor opened in April, 1967. General Manager Brenda Fey said in the news release that the hotel was a popular spot for weddings, family trips, conferences, live entertainment, and the Toledo-area favorite Betty's salad. "We have enjoyed being part of your family traditions and the countless happy memories crea...
Radisson to Introduce Radisson Larnaca Beach Resort in Cyprus Following Extensive Renovation
Radisson | October 26, 2018
Radisson Hospitality AB, publicly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Sweden and part of the Radisson Hotel Group, is proud to announce the introduction of the Radisson hotel brand to Southern Europe with the signing of the Radisson Larnaca Beach Resort on the island of Cyprus – due to open in Q3 2019. The new Radisson Larnaca Beach Resort is the group's third hotel in Cyprus, and will complement the recently opened Radisson Blu Hotel, Larnaca. A year-round destination, Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Eastern Mediterranean and is an island rich in history and culture – attracting more than two million tourists annu...
Hôtel Du Palais in Biarritz, France to Join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation | October 26, 2018
CHICAGO (October 26, 2018) Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) has announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Socomix for the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz, France. This historic, luxury palace will be the third property in France to join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand, alongside Hôtel du Louvre in Paris and Hôtel Martinez in Cannes. As the sixth property in The Unbound Collection by Hyatt in Europe, the 142-room hotel will mark a significant milestone for the brand's growth. In addition to Hôtel du Palais, Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London and Parisi Udvar Hotel in B...
InnVest Hotels to Embark on Total Property Renovation of the Hilton Québec in 2020
InnVest Hotels | October 26, 2018
QUEBEC CITY - Hilton Québec, owned by InnVest Hotels and managed by Hilton Management Services, announced today that the property will undergo a complete transformation that will touch all aspects of its appearance, including the exterior of the building, hotel infrastructure, guest rooms and all public areas. The renovation, which will take place in 2020, will result in one of the largest investments ever made into a single hotel in Canadian history. The renovation includes a completely new exterior to the building, new windows, a massive upgrade of the hotel's infrastructure systems and the complete renovation of the hotel&...
Hilton Signs Agreements for Two New Properties in Japan
Hilton Hotels & Resorts | October 26, 2018
TOKYO, Japan and MCLEAN, Va. - Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the signing of two agreements in Japan for Hilton Hiroshima and Hilton Nagasaki. These new deals form part of Hilton's development pipeline of four hotels in Japan, with plans to add more than 600 rooms in key markets throughout the country. "We are thrilled to announce two new properties in Japan. This announcement underlines our strong commitment to the Japan market," said Guy Phillips, senior vice president, Development, Asia & Australasia, Hilton. "Through strong partnerships with our owners, we are looking forward to contributing to the local economies of Hiroshi...
Three Ways Hoteliers Are Kicking Silos of Technology for Good (Finally)
Klaus Kohlmayr | October 26, 2018
By Klaus Kohlmayr Stop me if you've heard this before: In the age of OTAs and industry disruption, effectively managing a complex channel and distribution strategy is critical to a hotelier's bottom line. Yet archaic technology and a "this is how we've always done it" mindset are holding us back. Oh, you've heard it? Me too. For years, actually. So why are we still here? And more importantly, what are we doing to change? Because it feels like we're stuck in the same old rut. A few hoteliers seem to have figured it out. They've realized that an integrated distribution strategy, along with its intertwined relationship to sales, loyalty an...
Christopher Akoury Named General Manager of Embassy Suites by Hilton Parsippany
Embassy Suites by Hilton | October 26, 2018
PARSIPPANY, NJ. - Embassy Suites by Hilton Parsippany, owned by Park Hotels & Resorts and managed by Hilton Management Services, today appointed Christopher Akoury the hotel's new General Manager. Most recently, Akoury served as General Manager of Embassy Suites by Hilton Piscataway-Somerset and Director of Brand Relations at The Friendwell Group. Embassy Suites by Hilton is a global brand of upscale, all-suite hotels from Hilton (NYSE: HLT). In his new role, Akoury will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the 274-suite hotel including guest services, hotel administration and marketing efforts. Akoury began hi...
How to Entice Corporate and Bleisure Travelers to Book With Your Hotel
Rachel Hong | October 26, 2018
By Rachel Hong Bleisure travel has seen a huge increase in the past two years. According to Expedia's recent report titled Unpacking Bleisure Traveller Trends, there's been nearly a 40% rise in bleisure trips since 2016. On average, 60% of business travelers are adding leisure days to their trips, and most bleisure travelers say that they take a business trip at least every 2-3 months. For hotels, this trend reveals a major opportunity to capture additional revenue from this booming segment of the marketplace. In the following post, we'll dive into some of the key takeaways from the Expedia report, and discuss how hotels can attract thi...
How Wellness Became Big Business in America
JLL Real Views | October 26, 2018
During a '60 Minutes' segment on health in 1979, anchor Dan Rather said, "'Wellness': there's a word you don't hear every day." Four decades later, the word is ingrained into the paces of modern life, from a spirulina-infused smoothie in the morning, to an evening sound-healing session at the office, offered as part of a corporate wellness program. "Wellness went from a niche concern – something 'granola' – to something that is mainstream," says Carl Muhlstein, who leads a landlord agency leasing team at JLL. With mass appeal comes mass profit. The wellness industry is now valued at US$4.2 trillion, having grown 12.8 perce...
Economically Speaking: Must All Good Things Come to an End?
DRB Development Solutions | October 26, 2018
By Donald R. Boyken, FRICS, FAACE, CCP Each year, The Hotel Lodging Conference invites leading economists to offer their predictions for the Hotel industry. This year, there was more belief in their predictions than in prior years. I say belief because judging by their presentations it was clear they included their political preference as part of their forecasting. The conclusion/question: How long could the good times roll? The pessimistic and optimistic outlooks agree – Something will happen to the economy in the next two years. However, the degree of impact was tainted by their political outlook. Readers of this article underst...
PolyU Study Finds Photos Tell More Than a Thousand Words
October 26, 2018
A new data mining technique developed by Professor Rob Law of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and his co-researchers is able to capture extensive information on travellers' behaviour and travel patterns from huge photo datasets. In a recently published paper, the researchers apply the method to almost a million photos uploaded by Australian travellers to the photo-sharing site Flickr to discover their sequential travel destinations and itineraries, thus producing a wealth of information that could "support destination marketing organizations (DMOs) in promoting appropriate destin...
THE SALES PROCESS: Step Three GAINING COMMITMENT
ProSolutions | October 26, 2018
By Jana Love As we wrap up the third step in the Sales Process Series, your number one goal in sales is to gain commitment from the customer. However, The Sales Board wrote a blog on the research they found stating that, "...salespeople need dramatic improvement in achieving Sales Objectives and Gaining Commitment at each milestone of the sale." Their statistics show that 62% of salespeople fail to ask for commitment. That is a lot of potential sales heading out your door. Gaining commitment is an important element of selling. It consists of closing (checking in) at each step and making conclusions about where your customer is...
Spirides Arranges $7.8 Million Hotel Construction Loan for New Holiday Inn Express in Rock Hill, SC
Spirides Hospitality Finance Company | October 26, 2018
TAMPA, FL—Spirides Hospitality Finance Company has successfully arranged, and its client has closed a $7.8 million construction and term first priority mortgage loan from a southeast U.S. headquartered bank to finance the development of a new Holiday Inn Express in Rock Hill, South Carolina. This soon to be built Holiday Inn Express will feature 92 guest rooms and suites in a 5-story building situated on 1.4 acres of land. It will be located at 680 Tinsley Way, just off of Interstate 77 at the Dave Lyle Boulevard exit, in the City of Rock Hill, York County, SC, which is part of the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area. The hotel will be locat...
Residence Inn hotel will join retail and restaurant mix at First & Main Town Center in Colorado Springs
October 26, 2018
Oct. 26--A Kansas company that's developed seven hotels in Colorado Springs will add an eighth. RHW Management of Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, Mo., plans to build a four-story, 103-room Residence Inn by Marriott at the massive First & Main Town Center retail complex along busy Powers Boulevard on Colorado Springs' northeast side. The hotel would be built on 2.6 acres just east of the Fox & Hound restaurant and sports bar, on the south end of First & Main at South Carefree Circle and Tutt Boulevard, according to plans submitted to the city's Land Use Review Division. It will be RHW's second hotel at...
